Francoise Hardy Vogue Years CD - Import

UK-only two CD digitally remastered compilation by the French singer/songwriter/superstar. Compiled from her recordings for the prestigious French record label Vogue, this definitive 49 track collection includes her international million-selling hit, the self-penned 'Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles'. All tracks here are gorgeously sung in her native French. During her time, on Vogue,Hardy was able to to blend American and British production sophistication with a Continental European sensibility, with almost operatic backing vocals, sounding sometimes Spector-esque. Includes extensive sleevenotes and rare photos. Slimline double jewelcase housed in a slipcase. Camden.

French chanteuse Francoise Hardy gets her yesars with the Vogue label covered in this extensive collection; includes 50 tracks and original artwork.
More so even than her countryman and fellow pop star Serge Gainsbourg did in the 1960s, Francoise Hardy synthesized mainstream pop and rock elements into her take on the French chanson tradition. Influenced by Phil Spector's girl-group sound and the loungy, orchestral pop of commercial radio, Hardy's music of the 1960s is dense and breezy at once, marked by lush, hip production and the chanteuse's measured, bittersweet vocals.
BMG's superb two-disc set, THE VOGUE YEARS, compiles Hardy's work for Vogue during the '60s. With a whopping 50 tracks, well-selected and arranged chronologically, the set provides an excellent overview of the singer's early work, and her maturation during this pivotal period. Everything else about the package--from the liner notes to the vintage photos to the immaculately remastered sound--shines too, making THE VOGUE YEARS the Francoise Hardy collection to have.
The excellent mid-'60s Vogue recordings of Françoise Hardy have only occasionally been available to those outside France, usually courtesy of either shady collections or pricey imports. The Vogue Years solves that problem (at least temporarily, as long as it's in print), boasting everything the modern music connoisseur looks for: a lengthy, chronological track listing, crisp remastered sound, lengthy historical liner notes (by Bob Stanley from Saint Etienne), and an assortment of vintage photos. It hits most (surprisingly, not all) of her best recordings for Vogue from 1962 to 1967, beginning with "Tous les Garçons et le Filles," the multi-million seller recorded at her very first session. Disc two skips through her 1965-1966 material, during which she matured greatly as both a songwriter and performer, with productions that moved from the tinny sound of yeh-yeh pop into a fuller brand of rock arrangements. With no good retrospective also taking into account her extraordinary work from the late '60s (Comment Te Dire Adieu) and early '70s (La Question), The Vogue Years takes the cake as the best Françoise Hardy collection available. ~ John Bush